Southern Oregon strong at meets

Sunday

Sep 30, 2012 at 12:20 AMSep 30, 2012 at 3:20 AM

The top-ranked men's and 12th-ranked women's Southern Oregon cross country programs competed in two of the nation's largest cross country meets Saturday, with the men's teams placing ninth at the Stanford Invite and Willamette's Charles Bowles Invitational and the women placing 28th at Stanford.

The top-ranked men's and 12th-ranked women's Southern Oregon cross country programs competed in two of the nation's largest cross country meets Saturday, with the men's teams placing ninth at the Stanford Invite and Willamette's Charles Bowles Invitational and the women placing 28th at Stanford.

Competing against top programs from the NCAA Division I and II levels down at Stanford, Eric Avila led the way for the Raiders with a 25th-place finish. Avila finished the 8K run in 25:03, with Brett Hornig finishing 59th (25:37), Tyler VanDyke placing 75th (25:46) and Jared Hixon finishing 77th (25:54).

Cody Carter led the Salem group, finishing the 8K race in 26:08.

The SOU women placed 28th overall against the top competition at Stanford, led by Jessie Rozario in 156th place and a time of 23:18 for the 6K course.